Crash and Burn
by Milana
Summary: This is my first B/V, so be gentle with it!!! It takes place in those three years that we all know and love. I THINK this is a new idea, but if it's not, you all have permission to beat the poo out of me. This fic uses the song 'Crash and Burn' by Savage


Crash and Burn

A B/V songfic

A/N: Hey-o! This is my first B/V fic, so be gentle with me…although the song is 'Crash and Burn', I don't want the fic to…well…crash and burn (bad joke, I know…). The song, if you didn't know, is sung by Savage Garden (I love that band!). Lovies to everyone who reads and reviews! 

Disclaimer: Akira Toriyama owns DBZ… not me. Savage Garden owns the song, Crash and Burn. 

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(Normal text (section) is Bulma, Italics (section) are Vegeta, and bold is song lyrics. Thoughts will be in opposite from text at the time.)

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There is a question that haunts me every day, especially when I think about my love life. 

Why?

Why did I break up with Yamcha? Why did I ever agree to help his royal-pain-in-the-ass? And why in HELL am I starting to fall in love with the arrogant ass? I let my head fall to the desk. Why am I Kami's joke to the female species? I lifted my head slowly and try as I might, I could not get my thoughts away from the egotistical Saiyan. The way he walked, that annoying-yet-lovable scowl he puts on his face all the time, that I'm-better-than-you-so-get-over-it smirk…He was definitely cute. Okay, sexy. Sometimes, when I look at his hair, I wonder what it feels like. There's only one way to safely find out…and I don't want to think about it at the moment. I'm having enough problems with Vegeta…I don't need fantasies to aggravate the situation.

I looked at my CD player, which was currently playing 'Narcolepsy' by Third Eye Blind. I begin to sing along with the song, not noticing Vegeta enter the room. 

" And I can feel this narcolepsy sliiiiiiiiiide….INTO ANOTHER NIGHTMARE!" I sang, moving my head violently in tune with the song. " There's a demon in my head that starts to play a nightmare tape loop of what went wrong yesterday. And I hold my breath till it more than I can take. I close my eyes and dream that I'm awake. I try to---VEGETA!" I shrieked. I blushed deep red, caught in the act of singing and head banging. 

He scowled at me. " Woman, what the hell were you doing?" 

" I was singing!" I retorted. I crossed my arms haughtily. " Do you have a problem with that?"

" Any more of that…'singing' and I would have been driven out of the room in sheer terror from the sound." Vegeta replied. He then looked at me quizzically. " Woman, what did you do to yourself? You look odd." 

I began to build up for a good tirade, but then stopped. " You like my hair?" I smiled. 

" You look slightly less horrendous." Vegeta replied. Out of anyone else's mouth, that would have kicked me over the edge. But coming from Vegeta, that degrading remark was almost…a compliment. 

" Thank you." I smiled wider and winked. " Now, what can I do for you?" I asked, sitting back comfortably in the chair and let my hands rest to a folded position on my lap. 

" I require an upgrade for the gravity room. 350 times gravity has become too easy for me." He stated. 

I growled angrily. " Am I your tech slave?" I yelled. " Who the hell are _you_ to tell _me _what to do?"

Vegeta smirked at me, which only caused my temper to soar. " I know you have a slow human brain, but please try to keep up. I've been over this many times. I am a Prince. You do as I tell you to do." 

I snorted. " Yeah? Prince of what? Goku and half of Gohan?" I challenged, not really thinking about what I was saying. I saw the flash of sorrow in his eyes. " Vegeta…I'm sorry…I didn't have any right to say that." I stood up and looked into his eyes, black and smoldering with a thousand different emotions I would never be able to name. I put my hand on his arm and he wrenched his arm away, turning his face away from mine. " Vegeta?" 

Vegeta suddenly became very angry. " YOU DON'T HAVE A CLUE ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" He roared. " Forget you. I'll wait until your father returns."

" My father and mother won't be back for two months. He's on a contract with that Canadian Company." I replied. 

Vegeta looked even angrier, if it were possible. " So I'm stuck with you for two months? Great." He muttered sarcastically. 

" Hey, if you don't like it, go live with Goku." I retorted. " Just be wary of ChiChi."

Vegeta paled for a moment. He had met ChiChi only once before, and that was enough. " I will stay here." He replied slowly.

" Okay. I think I can upgrade the machine in it's own components. All I have to do is disable the level-one safety device, and that should allow you to get to 400 times gravity." I rummaged around the office until I found a small tool box, which was what I was looking for. 

" That's fine." Vegeta replied as I grabbed a few more things. 

" I'm glad you approve." I replied, not quite sure of what exactly he was talking about. It was a short walk to his gravity capsule, and I hummed the whole while. When I would catch Vegeta staring at me oddly, I would stick my tongue out at him. I smiled inwardly. He was such an enigma to me. I'd probably never figure him out. Looking at him, a question suddenly came to mind. " Hey, Vegeta?"

" What?" He asked gruffly. 

" How did you train on Vegetasei when you were a kid? Did you train in gravity simulations like you do here?"

" No. I trained with Saibaimen, usually. Sometimes with Nappa…and rarely with my father." He replied. " Why do you care?" 

I widened my eyes defensively. " Just asking a question! I'm only trying to make conversation, for Kami's sake." 

" So you don't care." Vegeta replied. 

" I didn't say that!" I retorted as I climbed the ladder to the circuit and computer panel. 

" Then why did you say you were just trying to make conversation? That indicates to me that you have no personal feelings in the question." Vegeta pointed out. 

" Damn it, shut up!" I yelled. Some of the employees began to stare. " What?" I snapped at them from atop the ladder. " Get back to work, or you're going to lose your jobs!" With that threat, they all scurried back to work. I stole a glance at Vegeta, who was shocked. " You may have power, Vegeta," I began, and he craned his head to look at me, " but I have _power_." 

Vegeta only chuckled that devious chuckle of his. " Power over a group of weakling humans is nothing to brag about, woman."

" Just shut up, okay? Only speak when spoken to." I asserted. 

" Woman…you DID speak to me." Vegeta replied. 

" Damn!" I swore. He was right, as usual. 

" That's not very lady like." Vegeta's voice scolded me, but I refused to look. I could only imagine the width of the smirk on his face. I threw him a very obscene gesture with my left hand. " That wasn't, either." 

" To hell with you." I muttered, although I knew he heard me. 

" Been there, done that." He replied smugly. 

" FUCK YOU, VEGETA!" I suddenly screeched, not able to take his attitude anymore.

" Woman, I would never degrade myself like that, and ESPECIALLY not with some loud-mouthed alien bitch!" Vegeta snapped back. I blinked, my anger shot away by those words. I had no idea why, but him saying that to me ripped my heart in two. I felt like he had taken a sword and slowly cut me open, then pulling out my insides in slow squeezes. I couldn't stop a few tears from snaking their way down my face. 

_I looked up at the woman, arms crossed in my typical posture. I enjoyed tormenting the woman, for some strange reason, but today seemed different. She was being more emotional than usual. " Woman, have you talked to that pathetic male of yours lately?" I asked, trying to root out the cause of her emotional disturbance. _

" No!" She snapped. She descended off the ladder and I could see tear trails on her face. 

" Why were you weeping?" I asked, almost concerned. Damn it, what the hell is wrong with me?

" What difference does it make to you?" Bulma demanded. I blinked. From the way she was acting, it was almost if I had caused the tears. What is wrong with me? With her? What the hell is going on here? Against my better judgement, I lifted my hand to her face and wiped the remnants of the tears away. My senses taking hold, I pulled my hand away, looking like a child who has been caught doing something wrong. 

" If you're not well, you shouldn't work. You might mess up an then we'd have a really big mess, wouldn't we?" I smirked at her. Confusion shone clear in her expression as her blue eyes bored into my own obsidian orbs. 

" Maybe you're right…" She murmured. " Wouldn't want faulty machinery, would we? No, no, that's no good… Okay. You know what, Vegeta?" She asked, her eyes twinkling. I arched an eyebrow inquisitively, waiting for her to finish. " It's really sweet how you're trying to be nice."

I scoffed. " I'm not nice and I'm not trying to be. I'm being logical."

" If you say so…but I still think you're trying to be nice to me."

" Woman," I began calmly, " I'm not trying to be nice to you." 

" Sure…" She winked at me and dragged out the 'u' in the word. " Well, anyway, I'm going to go take a nap." 

" Of course. Humans sleep far too often." I waved her off, as if she were a servant dismissed for the day. 

" Well, sorry your highness, but I don't have a drop of Saiyan blood. I'm not on some eternal power source. I run out of energy." She replied. 

I smirked. " You are one of the weakest humans I've ever had the displeasure of meeting." 

Bulma stuck her tongue out at me, a human expression that meant many things, in this case most likely an expression of indifference. Maybe defiance. " Well, that's just your tough luck. You're just jealous that I use my energy for my brain. Unlike you, who only uses their brain to insult me." 

I arched an eyebrow. " Whatever." 

" Well, you obviously don't have any substantial amount of intelligence, or you wouldn't be coming to me and Dad so much for some sort of machinery. You'd be able to make it yourself." She smiled, as if she knew something I didn't. I gave her a confused look, before an arrogant one replaced it out of habit. 

" Woman, anything you could do with your primitive Earth brain and machinery, I could do a thousand times better."

" Vegeta…is that a challenge?" Bulma asked, still grinning like mad. I then realized why she was smiling. She knew me better than I thought she did. She knew me better than I thought anyone ever had. She knew I could never refuse or back out of a challenge. Damn. She had me pinned. Well, I wouldn't go down without a fight. 

" Maybe it is." I replied. " One you would most defiantly lose." 

Her eyes widened, as did her smile. " We'll see about that." Her smile morphed into a devious grin. " Let's see, if I win, you stop being such a stubborn jackass and stop insulting me…"

I snorted. " Woman, even though you're going to lose, at least aim for something plausible." 

" Wow. You're right. Getting you to be at least polite would be asking too much." My scowl deepened, but she didn't notice. She didn't think I could be polite? Heh…I could, there was no doubt about that. But I'd grown out of the habit. After all, forced submission and politeness seemed similar, but were worlds apart. Maybe she was right. Maybe all I am is cynical. I shook my head lightly, dislodging the thoughts. What did I care what the woman thought of me, in any case? I noticed her arched eyebrow, and my scowl deepened even further. " Are you okay?"

" I'm fine." I snapped. 

She rolled her eyes and sighed. " You know, it wouldn't kill you to sleep more often than just when you're critically wounded." 

I had nothing to say to that. I 'hmmph-ed' and changed the subject. " So, about this challenge of yours…" 

" Hmm…" She looked thoughtful. After a minute, her eyes brightened. " The challenge is…you have to build a better racing bike than me. We'll race them in a month. Whoever wins the race wins the challenge." She smiled, very proud of herself. " What do you want if you win?" She asked. 

I thought for a minute before coming up with an answer. " When I win…" I began.

" IF you win…" Bulma corrected, and I only smirked. 

" As I was saying, when I win," smiling wider at her angry look, " I want the gravity room upgraded without your bitching."

" Bitching comes standard with the upgrades." She replied. " Try something else." 

I scoffed. " Fine. Then I want you to cook a real meal once, instead of that rubbish you dare label edible." 

" Fair enough." She replied. " And…if I win…"

" Unlikely." I pointed out.

" Maybe less so than you think." She returned, smiling again. " Okay. If I win…gosh. I don't know. All the things I want you to do are incredibly unlikely, even if you were bound to do them. Let's see…how about this? If I win, you put off a week of training and come with me to this mountain resort." 

I arched an eyebrow. " Why would I do that?"

" Well, disregarding the fact that I HAVE to go because of a few meetings up there, it could give you time to be exposed to a different environment. Hell, maybe you'd even train up there."

I considered the idea. " Fine. In the unlikely event that you win, I'll go." 

She smiled. " Thanks!" 

I scoffed. " Whatever." 

" You know," she began, walking up closer to me, " you really aren't as bad or evil or tough as you'd like everyone else to believe." She leaned over and kissed my cheek. I was frozen in shock. She smiled again, warmly, then walked off. I still couldn't get myself to move, except that my eyes were wide and strangled noises were coming out of my throat. "Oh, by the way…" She began, and I finally snapped back into reality, " I'll be sure to get you a basic outline for a racing bike ASAP. Wouldn't want you totally unprepared, now would we?" She laughed lightly and finished her trek into the compound. 

Oh, damn. I'm so STUPID! Why did I just kiss Vegeta? I'm glad he was frozen in shock. He could have killed me easily. " Girl, you gotta remember to watch yourself. All the men you hang out with could rip you in two without breaking a sweat." I muttered to myself as I snatched the ringing receiver off it's cradle. " Hello?"

" Hi!" A cheery voice at the other end of the line replied. I saw Vegeta come in the front door, and I held up a hand to him. 

" Who is this?" I asked. I knew the voice was male, but it was too deep to be a child.

" Goku!" Goku yelled in my ear, and I winced. 

" Goku? You know how to use a phone?" I asked, almost surprised. Vegeta snorted laughter and the water he was drinking flew out of his mouth and onto the carpet. Eww… " One sec." I said into the phone. I put my hand over the mouthpiece. " You clean that up. I'm not going to play around in your saliva."

Vegeta had a malicious grin etched on his face. " Fine." He replied. He was still smiling, evidently from the fact that I was in wonder that Goku could use a phone. I rolled my eyes and playfully smacked his shoulder as he walked by. He stopped and looked at me, not angry…just…confused. He shook it off and walked into the kitchen, probably hunting for a towel. 

" So, anyway," I began, "what are you calling for?"

" Just wanted to say hi. Gohan's studying and I'm just taking a breather. How's Vegeta?" 

" Cleaning the floor." I replied, sticking my tongue out at Vegeta. And for once in his life, he stuck his back out at me. 

" Why?"

" Don't worry. Just a mess he made." I replied. 

" How are you getting along with him?" Goku asked. 

" Fine. I mean, as well as one could hope. Why?"

" Just curious." Goku replied. " Well, I gotta go! Have fun!" He then hung up before I could ask him what he meant. I shook my head and replaced the receiver. 

" That's got to be the damn weirdest phone conversation I've ever had." I muttered. 

" Of course. You were talking to Kakarot." Vegeta replied as he walked out of the kitchen, towel in hand. 

I rolled my eyes. " I need to learn how to mutter in a more quiet manner." I muttered, softer than before. 

" Quieter than that, woman! I can still hear you!" Vegeta looked up from his work and flashed me a smirk.

I rolled my eyes again. " Can you hear this?" I whispered. 

" Yes." He replied. 

_Well, how about this? Can you hear this, Vegeta? _I thought, smiling. 

" Yes." He replied again, tossing his towel into the air a burning it with a weak ki blast. 

My eyes must have been as wide as moons. " But…how…" I stammered. Did he really hear my thought? Or was he bluffing?

He looked at me, his expression grave to hide pain. " Because. You thought directly at me. Saiyans have telepathic abilities."

I must have looked relieved. " So, you can't just pick thoughts out of my head at random?" I asked. 

Vegeta shook his head. " Only if we were close." He looked at me with an expression I couldn't name. He looked almost wishful, but not really. I realized how alone he must have felt, all alone on an alien world, and the only one who remembered the ways of the Saiyan. 

~*~

****

When you feel all alone  
And the world has turned it's back on you  
Give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart  
~*~ 

I thought about what it must be like to be the last surviving member of your race…to be completely alone in the universe…I shuddered at the thought. Poor Vegeta…wait…am I starting to pity him? Okay, Bulma, get a grip…you don't care about Vegeta at all. _Oh, who am I trying to kid? _I thought bitterly. _I do care about him, the jerk_. I ran my hands through my hair and let out a long sigh, flopping myself onto the couch. " Why me?" I moaned, and I grabbed a pillow and smushed it over my face. 

" Woman," a voice began, and I was startled. I had forgotten Vegeta was there. " You didn't finish my Gravity Room."

" Give it a rest, Vegeta." I mumbled into the pillow. 

" Try saying that with the pillow away from your face." He suggested. 

" Fine." I mumbled, removing the pillow. " I said 'give it a rest'." 

" What else should I do, if not train?" He asked. I looked over at him and realized he was not mocking me, he was being serious. 

" Well, I don't know. What do you do for fun?" I asked, sitting up and drawing my legs to my chest. 

" Torturing and killing those weaker than myself." He replied. 

I shuddered. I decided that I could have lived without that knowledge. " Anything else?" I asked, almost afraid to. 

To my relief, Vegeta shook his head. " Nothing."

" Hmm…how would you like to start working on your bike?" 

" That will suffice to occupy my time." He replied in a very princely manner. 

I stood up and stretched, walking to a nearby computer console. After a quick download, I handed the disk to Vegeta. " This is a program that'll let you design your bike." I patted him on the back and smiled. " Have fun."

" Hmmph." He replied, and he went down into my lab. I sighed and jumped back onto the couch and fell asleep. 

~~~~~~~~~~

End of chapter one! I was going to have this all be one clump of a fic, but I decided where I ended off was a good place to end a chapter. So, what do you think of the plot so far? I actually plan to finish this fic, so stay tuned! 

Yes, I know this chapter moved kinda slow (as I joked with my sister, it went about the average speed of a DBZ episode) but I promise, this chapter was just to set the plot in motion. I gave it a push this time. The rest of the time I'll be using cattle prods. ^_________^

Oh, and just for those of you who might ask 'Will this ever be a lemon?', the answer is no. I am only fifteen years old and therefore not supposed view things rated NC-17, much less spout them out of my own imagination. Unless it takes me two years to get there, you aren't going to see a lemon. Sorry! 

Anyway, Review! What are you waiting for? CLICK THE BUTTON! LOL

^~* Milana no Oujo *~^


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